Conference Planning Guidelines

I. Two Conferences

October
Annual (fall) conference. Dates are selected by the host institution usually at least 2 to 3 years in advance in consideration of the availability of hotel rooms and other local and national events as well as opinions of board members during the board meeting. The program chair of the fall conference is president-elect. The chair of the research communicators’ program committee, who is the second year research communicator representative on the board, is the co-chair.

April
Spring conference in Washington, D.C., co-hosted with NABE (or other organization/s). Dates are mutually agreed upon by both/all organizations involved. AUBER hosts the Sunday evening reception. The program chair is appointed by president from board members completing their 1st year of service on the board.

II. New Board Members

The operational year of AUBER starts and ends at the conclusion of the fall meeting. This means that board members who are elected during summer will have their first meeting during the spring meeting.

III. Fall Conference Planning Guide for the Host

Upon Being Selected as the Host:

• Select the meeting date: Usually starts from the 2nd, 3rd, or 1st weekend of October.
• Select hotel and make meeting space (for up to 125) and lodging reservations for Saturday (75-90), Sunday (90-120), Monday (90-120), and Tuesday (75-90) (assuming a Sunday-Monday-Tuesday conference schedule).
• Obtain a preliminary contract from the hotel for the reservations. Room rates may not be finalized at this time but should be negotiated for the lowest possible rates.
• Let AUBER Business Office know of all decisions made for preparations.

15 Months Prior

• Secure preliminary contracts for activities.
• Estimate the total cost; may range between $18,000 and $25,000.
• Visit the hotel and finalize the following: conference room rates; negotiate to the lowest rate food service costs, policy on complimentary rooms, policy regarding meal guarantee and gratuities, hotel-supplied promotional materials, and audio-visual equipment availability.
• Arrange ground transportation, if necessary.
• Prepare a slide presentation and promotional material for distribution at the annual fall meeting.

One Year Prior

• Make detailed report to the board and the general meeting during the fall conference.

Conference Year

• March
  • Finalize all contracts, including firm hotel room rates.
  • Prepare progress report, including budget estimates, for presentation at the spring board of directors meeting.
• April
  • Present progress report to the spring board meeting.
  • May request $1,000 seed money, if necessary, from AUBER Business Office to pay start-up costs. Unless there is an advantage of having an account at the host institution (such as tax exemption), the AUBER Business Office handles all money matters.
  • Send conference information for inclusion in the newsletter.
  • Arrange air fare discount: Even Saturday fares are discounted by 5%.
  • Local host, program chair, and AUBER Business Office need to communicate to update one another on progress of the program.
• May
  • Prepare a preliminary program for mailing.
  • Prepare registration form. (Business Office does this with input from conference planners.)
  • Prepare the registration package that includes: preliminary program, instruction sheet, air fare discount information, hotel and ground transportation information, information on activities, and attire
  • Mail the registration package to the AUBER Business Office for mailing to AUBER members and AACSB school deans early in June.
  • Registration is accepted by the AUBER Business Office and copies are mailed to the host institution (by request only).
• June
  • Work with, and push, program chair and session chairs to finalize the program.
  • Confer with president and program chair to decide whose registration fees should be waived, and who may get complimentary rooms and meals.
  • Compile list of names/addresses of keynote speakers and outside participants; send them conference information.
  • Order conference bags, and obtain any goodies/trinkets to put in the bags.
• August
  • Prepare second notice of conference information and send it to the AUBER Business Office for mailing.
  • Ask research communicators on the program committee to prepare a letter requesting publications for exhibit to be mailed to the host institution by the end of September.
  • Invite key official of host university to give welcoming remarks at opening banquet.
  • Work with the program chair to finalize the program.
  • Order conference cases or folders for registration materials.
  • Check with hotel to be certain that banquet and lunch menus selected will be available at specific prices.
  • Choose menus for conference meals.
• September
  • Mail out reminders to all speakers and participants in all sessions. Also ask the availability of audio-visual equipment in each room.
  • Send out reminders to local providers of support services such as excursions, etc.
  • Make sure that registration forms are received from all speakers and participants.
  • Send reminders about publications exhibit.
  • Get the final program from the program chair.
  • Print the final program 100-150 copies (based upon registration, check with Business Office).
  • Prepare drink tickets, if planned.
  • Organize materials to be included in conference folders: program, list of registrants, name tags, general information on local area, drink tickets for receptions, and any souvenirs.
• October
  • Go over all final arrangements with hotel, including menus, meeting rooms, additional food service requests, audio-visual equipment, etc.
  • Make final head table seating arrangements for banquet and luncheons. Make sure research communicators are also seated at head tables. Invitations are inserted into appropriate conference bags.
  • Notify hotel of who should be assigned complimentary rooms.
  • If complimentary rooms are not available, request suites (at the same room rates) for president, program chair, and the keynote speaker.
  • Estimate counts for meals. Guaranteed counts may be about 10% less than projected attendance, while the number of projected attendance is always smaller than the number of registered persons.
  • Print name tags. (Business Office sends registration file to host university.)
  • Compile the list of all persons registered or on the program. Due to changes, wait until the last minute before making copies. (Business Office compiles this list, and forwards to host university.)
  • Make arrangements for purchase of hospitality suite items.

At the Conference

• Set up registration area.
• Set up publications exhibit.
• Present progress report to the board meeting.
• Set up hospitality suite and make sure it is appropriately stocked each evening it is open.

IV. Fall Conference Planning Guide for the Program Chair

One Year Prior

• Make detailed plan for the conference and present it for input to the board and the general meeting during the fall conference.
• Research communicator co-chair also makes a presentation to the board and the general meeting during the fall conference.

Conference Year

• April
  • Finalize the program outline and report to the spring board meeting.
  • Receive the preliminary program from research communicator co-chair.
  • Put the program on the web either of the program chair's bureau web for convenience of editing that will be numerous, or of the AUBER homepage.
• June
  • Send the latest program to the AUBER Business Office for mailing in the registration package.
• August
  • Work with the host and finalize the program.
  • Make sure to update the program on the web site.
• September
  • Send the final program to the host for printing.
  • Finalize, as president-elect, the appointment of all standing committee members and chairs for announcement during the fall meeting.
• October
  • Go over all final arrangements with hotel and the host, including all needs of program participants.
    

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